Thanks. I remember in the 80’s the USN had a project for rocket boosted shells from BBs. Tests had successfully shown 50+ mile range, and they expected to get to 100+miles, which would put about 60% of the world’s population/cities within range. Every time I read about using a $ 1 million cruise missile to take out a truck, I wish we had kept one of the BBs on active duty. I remember the last time a BB fired for real, it was the NJ off the Lebanese coast, after the Marines were killed by a suicide bomber..
Nope, the last time was Desert Storm. Also the last War with Bob Hope.
Also Desert Storm was the last war with a US Phantom II,, and even one liberty ship carried a load!
That was before GPS guidance technology was developed. Now, it could make a phenominal, cost effective weapon.
BTW, the British used monitors during WW-II, whereby turrets were removed from decommissioned battleships and placed on unarmored hulls for coastal bombardment. That would greatly reduce operational costs and crew requirements!
>>> the last time a BB fired for real, it was the NJ off the Lebanese coast, after the Marines were killed by a suicide bomber.
No the last time a BB fired for real, something like 40 US sailors were smashed into jello. The same ship, USS Iowa. The turret was never repaired.
Even without their untrustworthy big guns I always thought the fast battleships would have made a good cruise missile barrier for the carriers. Positioned between the carrier and the threat to soak up the incoming missiles the defense failed to shoot down, their thick armor could shrug off any non-nuclear hits. The ships needed too many sailors to operate though.